The Twilight Program: A Phenomenographic Study, Chanda Crawley

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

Alternative schools are an important concept in current education. This research describes the qualitatively different ways in which student’s experienced an alternative program, like Twilight. In these phenomenographic inquiry two current students, two Twilight graduates, and four Twilight teachers discuss the qualitatively different ways that students’ experience Twilight. The analysis yielded an outcome space of three qualitatively different ways of experiencing Twilight 1. Culture, 2. Self-efficacy, and 3, Teacher impact. Based on the findings of this research, the recommendation includes studying the shifting role of administrators in alternative education.

Failure, Flexibility, And (Self-)Forgiveness: Authentic Modeling Through Distance Instruction, Brandie L. Bohney

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

After adjusting her writing methods course for distance learning due to coronavirus restrictions, an experienced teacher but early-career teacher educator gets a difficult and important reminder about what failure in the classroom feels like. Using this failure as an opportunity, she chooses an honest and vulnerable approach to readjusting the course and finds that the strategy serves both her and her students well.

Blended Learning Showing Gains, Jessica Lynn Becker

Graduate Teacher Education

In light of what is known about how children learn and the use of technology in society, blended learning is proving to be an effective teaching strategy to improve student academic achievement. Blended learning is a combination of digital technology with face-to-face direct instruction. The purpose of blended learning instruction is to combine the benefits of face-to-face direct instruction with the personalization and collaboration of digital technology. Blended learning comes in many different models that meet the many needs of teachers and school districts. It has succeeded in improving student academic achievement in different subject areas by allowing students to …

Multiple Case Studies Using Positive Behavioral Interventions And Supports, Stacy Brouillette

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this replicated multiple case study was to describe practices of the implementation process of a schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) approach at three purposely selected Washington state middle schools.

Methodology: A descriptive, qualitative, replicated multiple case study approach was selected for this study. Artifact reviews were conducted and an appropriate data collection tool was utilized to collect data. Observations of the sites where PBIS was being implemented were conducted with an appropriate observation tool to gather data. Interviews were conducted with qualitative questions asked. These data collection methods were then triangulated to find patterns …

Community Asset Inquiry: A Model For Esol Teacher Praxis In Family And Community Engagement, Felice Atesoglu Russell, Amanda Richey

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

In this article, we present findings from our qualitative, self-study research on the development and implementation of two course assignments (community asset maps and oral histories) designed to support practicing teachers’ praxis in working with English learner (EL) students within the context of family and community engagement. Providing an example of how English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher praxis might be developed, findings are framed by our Community Asset Inquiry model. This model, grounded in equity literacy and transformative family and community engagement supports teachers’ development of praxis in support of an asset-based approach, deep knowledge of …

Art Therapy In Public Education, Sophie Edelman

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review explores the history of art therapy in education. By understanding the history it is clear that art therapy has always been a positive force for students. By learning from the successes and challenges in our history we are better able to plan for future programing and expansion of art therapy programs. Because art therapy was developed in part by educators, the history of art therapy itself is linked with the history of art therapy in schools. In today’s application of art therapy in education there are three models most typically used. The research discusses the strengths and …

Student Wellbeing And Open Studio Process In The School Curriculum, Maria Kim

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study aimed to explore whether Open Studio Process (OSP) increased wellbeing of middle and high school students when facilitated by teachers as a part of the regular art curriculum. It was hypothesized that OSP might increase the sense of wellbeing among middle and high school students as well as facilitating teachers. The research was conducted as a mixed methods study in South Korea where students need preventative interventions for their wellbeing. The researcher trained eight teachers to facilitate OSP and five of them implemented it with their classes for seven sessions. Quantitative data (K-YSR; pre- and posttest) were collected …

An Effective Method Of Teaching English: A Handbook For English Teachers In China, Zichen Cai

Master's Projects and Capstones

Along with the significance of learning English has been emphasized by Chinese government for more than thirty years, more and more Westerns who mostly came from the U.S and England were welcomed to teach English in China. However, most of them are not qualified to teach, and they are not well-prepared before teaching according to author’s observation, which make students lose their interest in learning English eventually. Moreover, these foreign ESL teachers follow the activities and exercises in the textbook step by step while teaching, which is very dull and monotonous. In the literature review, the factors that might influence …

Systemic Racism In Education: Perspectives Of Teachers Of Color, Stephany Vallejo

Education | Master's Theses

Many strides have been made in addressing equity, diversity and social justice in the field of education. However there has remained a gap in the representation of the voices of Teachers of Color. Current literature reveals that there is underlying systemic racism deterring People of Color from pursuing a career in education for a variety of reasons including social, financial, racial and political barriers. Applying Critical Race Theory, critical studies of Whiteness and Microaggressions this study analyzes the experiences of Teachers of Color through their educational career. This research uses a qualitative methods approach with an emphasis on a constructivist …

The Potential Link Between Teacher Evaluation And Student Achievement, Darrell Stinchcomb

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Abstract

The push for educational accountability and standardization in the United States gained traction with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Uniformity in the curriculum, academic standards, testing, and accountability were some of the requirements that were being touted by politicians, educators, and special interest groups. School districts across the United States were forced to develop systems to prove that teachers were teaching and students were learning. New York State enacted reform legislation under Education Law section 3012-c, which included the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) to evaluate teachers and principals. One of the components of this evaluation …

Exploring Stem Kit Diagrams For Braille Readers In Inclusive Classrooms, Sariat A. Adelakun Dr

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Diagrams appears in many school subjects but more prominent in science and mathematics taught in schools. Accessing these diagrams in an inclusive classroom has been identified to be problematic for blind students partly due to the teaching resources available and personnel type, support and sufficiency. Diagrams are mostly omitted by teachers leaving the blind person out in such classroom to access portion of education received by their peers. In many instances, questions with diagrams are treated as bonus for blind students in some countries which is not fair to them. This study explored the efficacy of STEM Kit diagrams on …

Exploring Implicit Bias To Evaluate Teacher Candidates' Ethical Practice In The Internship, Jamie Silverman, Jessica Shiller

Journal of Practitioner Research

To create an equitable and ethical learning environment in the classroom requires teacher candidates (TCs) to develop positive relationships with students and to reflect on who they are. Using the elements of Richard Milner’s (2007) Framework of Researcher Racial and Cultural Positionality, this article presents an account of an innovative practice in how to engage secondary education TCs in a reflection of implicit biases, and how to interrupt them to become more ethical professionals. This article takes InTASC 9: Professional Learning and Ethical Practice as a point of departure and describes how a new teacher mentor piloted a series of …

Teacher Perceptions And Implementation Of A Content-Area Literacy Professional Development Program, Osha Lynette Smith, Rebecca Robinson

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The Common Core State Standards recommend that all educators equip students with the literacy skills needed for college and careers. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine middle-level content-area teachers’ perspectives on a district-led literacy professional development program and their implementation of the literacy strategies they learned. The conceptual framework included Bruner’s constructivist, Bandura’s self-efficacy, and Knowles’s andragogy theories. These theories informed the investigation of adult learners’ perspectives regarding the way they learn and gain confidence in providing literacy instruction. Eleven English, math, science, and social studies teachers participated in the study through individual interviews. Data were …

Discipline-Culture And Instructional Practices: An Integrated Leader's Role, Joe L. Griffin

Dissertations

The goal of this study was to identify the extent to which integrated leadership is present in schools, according to secondary teachers. Second, the study sought to measure the discipline-culture of schools. Discipline-culture is defined as the way discipline is administered daily in a school and how it contributes to the instructional practices that teacher’s use. Finally, integrated leadership, coined by Marks and Printy (2003), was examined relative to discipline-culture and instructional practices with this study. Leadership has been studied in multiple countries across various grade levels, but integrated leadership's influence on discipline-culture and instructional practices has not been researched. …

College Students And Their Political Participation, Emily Williams

Honors Projects

Historically, college students have had a low voter turnout despite having particularly high political engagement. This is a problem because it is instilling a bad habit of not politically engaging to the extent that a productive United States citizen should. By not voting, Americans are losing their rights to representation that reflects their views and beliefs. In this paper I discuss why this low voter turnout is negative and what the United States can do, via the government and educational institutions, to increase voter turnout. In this research, the reader will discover the reasons for low voting rates among college …

A Place Of Yes? Experiences Of Educators Participating In Site-Based Teacher-Led Reform, Elizabeth Hind

Education (PhD) Dissertations

This study examined the experiences of four teachers who participated as mentors in a teacher-designed and -implemented creative community at a middle school in southern California. Using the arts-based research methodologies of poetic inquiry, narrative inquiry, and painting, the researcher explored how teachers experience teaching and learning when they deconstruct structures that perpetuate standardization and choose to approach education as a place of yes, freed from the parameters of mandated curriculum, the idea of education as product, and high- stakes accountability measures. The study revealed that the qualities of the creative community had a humanizing effect on its participants, allowing …

Teacher Turnover And Teacher Retirement, Dillon Fuchsman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Teachers have an important impact on students in the short- and long-term, but only teachers’ experience consistently predicts high teacher quality. This dissertation, divided into three chapters, investigates two topics that are related to teachers’ experience levels: turnover and retirement.

The first chapter studies the relationship between voluntary beginning teacher turnover and teachers’ levels of conscientiousness. It uses the data from the Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study and the effort that teachers put on a survey taken during their first year in the profession as a proxy for teachers’ levels of conscientiousness. The results of this chapter indicate that teachers putting …

Embedding Problem Solving In The Math 30x Courses, Kelli Wasserman

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

The Math 30x Quarter Bridge courses have been designed to bridge the gap created in curriculum, as CSUSB transitions from quarters to semesters. The four course series will soon be a three course series, with the fourth course embedded in the other three. These classes will now incorporate reading, problem solving and reflection assignments from Powerful Problem Solving by Max Ray and Thinking Around the Box by Davida Fischman and Shawnee McMurran. These classes will also serve as a model for the Fall semester courses. The following outlines the Group Projects to be incorporated into the Quarter Bridge and Semester …

Identity And Advocacy: The Missing Components In Promoting Social-Emotional Health And Self-Regulation For Multiply Marginalized Girls, Jovonne Tabb, Temple S. Lovelace, Mary Comis, Olajumoke Oshokoya

Graduate Student Research Symposium

Girlhood has been a topic of great interest in the last decade. As individuals have examined the lack of girls in STEM or the increase of bullying in girls, there has been a push to understanding the differential experiences along gender-based lines. In this study, the researchers highlight the results of the successful implementation of a group-based curriculum that utilized identity and advocacy as critical components in a treatment package focused on self-regulation. Using a pretest-posttest design, the researchers found a statistically significant difference in several key areas that are of key importance when supporting the needs of adolescent girls. …

The Accessibility Of Mathematical Notation On The Web And Beyond, Jason White

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This paper serves two purposes. First, it offers an overview of the role of the Mathematical Markup Language (MathML) in representing mathematical notation on the Web, and its significance for accessibility. To orient the discussion, hypotheses are advanced regarding users’ needs in connection with the accessibility of mathematical notation. Second, current developments in the evolution of MathML are reviewed, noting their consequences for accessibility, and commenting on prospects for future improvement in the concrete experiences of users of assistive technologies. Recommendations are advanced for further research and development activities, emphasizing the cognitive aspects of user interface design.